Air Freight Must Take Perishables More Seriously and Invest in ‘Smart’ Containers

The air freight industry is failing to take perishables seriously, delegates heard this week at Schiphol Cargo’s Shipper Forum at Air Cargo Africa in Johannesburg.

In a session hosted by Amsterdam Airport that focused on the flower trade, it was suggested that sea freight was by far the best quality option for many flowers, as reefer containers provide a steady temperature which could not be guaranteed on an aircraft, unless in a more expensive temperature-controlled container.

Juhan Hulleman, head of quality for Jumbo supermarkets, a Dutch retailer with some 600 shops, revealed that to get 800 boxes of flowers that he could guarantee would last a customer seven days, he needed to buy 1,400 boxes – implying that 42% of the shipped blooms wouldn’t survive long enough. Click here to read more.